


The Girl

by acalmingcupoftea



Category: Persuasion - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acalmingcupoftea/pseuds/acalmingcupoftea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frederick reflects one early morning</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mistresscurvy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistresscurvy/gifts).



> Thanks to glovered for the beta!
> 
> A treat for mistresscurvy as we both share a love of Persuasion and the world needs more fic of it.

The sun drifted in through the curtains of a small room in Kellynch Hall, awakening Captain Frederick Wentworth. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, attempting to fall back to sleep but it just wouldn’t come. He opened his eyes and sighed.

Something glimmered in the corner of his eye and he turned his head to look at the sleeping figure next to him. Anne Wentworth née Elliot, as of yesterday, was sound asleep. Her breathing, though quiet, was deep, and the sun hadn’t yet reached her eyes to awaken her. The bright beams, which had caught Frederick’s eye, were reflecting off the golden wedding ring on her left hand, currently splayed across her stomach.

As he looked at her, Frederick could feel his face soften. There was no one in this world he loved half as much as he loved Anne Elliot, his beautiful, thoughtful, quiet wife. After all that they had been through, after all that they had suffered, he still could not believe that they were finally together and he would allow nothing and no one in this world to tear them apart again.

He had been absolutely furious all of those years ago when she had rejected him, not only for the pain that he felt but also for the pain he knew she was in. Had Anne told him, cold-heartedly and serious, that she could not marry him, that she did not love him, he thought he could have moved on. But the fact that she had told him these things in between sobs that wracked her body and with tears streaming down her face, he’d known that it was not what she wanted. That her rejection of his proposal was a choice someone else had made.

After that, Frederick tried to prove to himself that he no longer cared. He took on every assignment that seemed the least bit dangerous or would mean traveling far away from England and the woman who still haunted his dreams. It wasn’t until Frederick had resolved to never love again that he was able to focus on his career and stop recklessly putting his life in danger.

Anne Elliot was always in his thoughts and his heart but he was able to lock them away most of the time. It felt like he was forgetting about her. He had started so many letters to her over the course of his deployment with the Navy, but the only one he had gotten close to sending was five years after she had broken off the engagement, and after a dangerous battle. 

In it, he had described that his feelings were still what they were all that time ago, if not stronger, and that all she had to do was say she felt the same and they could be together once again. But in the end, he had simply put it away in his chest, with all his other failed attempts and letters she had ever sent him.

Then, three years after his return from sea, they had somehow both been at Uppercross. When he’d seen her again in the Musgrove’s dining room, he’d been shocked. She had looked just as beautiful, the sunlight framing her against the window, as she had all those years ago. All the feelings he had for her - anger, desire, despair, love - the ones he thought he had locked away deep inside himself, came rushing back all at once.

Anger, as in most things, won out for the longest, and during his entire visit with the Musgroves he was furious. What a fool he had been trying to use Louisa Musgrove to make Anne jealous. To feel the pain he was feeling when he should have fully known how deeply she still cared for him. If he had ignored, at any point, his feelings of resentment, he would have seen it in her eyes, in the way she spoke to him. He would have known then and there that she had never stopped loving him and all of the preceding events need not have happened.

It wasn’t until Harville had suggested that everyone thought an understanding had existed between him and Louisa that he realized what a fool he had been. His brother had been no better, chastising him for his foolishness for not claiming his happiness when he had been reunited with it. He almost ran to Bath right then to see Anne, to tell her all he felt, to tell her his hopes and dreams for their future, but has been persuaded to call upon Harville first, to ensure that his supposed understanding with Louisa Musgrove had been dissolved.

Upon discovering that Louisa had become engaged to Benwick, Frederick had felt a great weight lifted from his chest. Now that nothing stood in his way of presenting himself to Anne as a potential suitor once again, he sped away for Bath. Frederick was sure that Anne’s feelings were still strong and all that was required was for him to apologize for acting the fool all this time and express how much he loved her.

After Anne’s acceptance of his proposal, he did not think that anything in the world would make him happier. The several weeks leading up to their wedding had been pure perfection. Not only had they been reunited, but he had every excuse in the world to be near her, to touch her, to hold her hand, to whisper that he loved her, that he cherished her, that he wanted no one else in the world but her.

Their wedding had been lovely and beautiful, or so he had been told. His only memories of the evening were of Anne. Anne’s smile as she walked down the aisle. How stunning Anne looked in her wedding dress. The weight of her hands in his as he put the wedding ring on her finger. The explosion of happiness he felt in his chest when the clergyman pronounced that they were husband and wife. They way they both were trembling as he leaned in to kiss her. How his tears of joy mixed with her’s on their cheeks.

Anne’s stirring brought Frederick back from his reflections. He smiled at her, propped up on his side as she opened her eyes. When she saw Frederick, Anne’s face relaxed and a smile appeared involuntarily on her lips.

Frederick slid his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. Anne, surprised at first, responded by wrapping her arms around him and returning the kiss. After a few moments, she pulled away and looked at him, her hair fanned out around her as she said, “What was that for?”

Frederick got a mischievous look in his eyes as he said, “That is the first kiss to make up for all the ones I have missed over the last eight years.” He could feel Anne’s smile as he kissed her once again.

When they broke apart he said, returning the smile, “I intend to claim them all.”


End file.
